Delhi Police bust illegal adulterated desi ghee factory in Bawana, two held

New Delhi, Oct 31 (IANS) In a major crackdown on food adulteration, the Eastern Range-I of the Delhi Police Crime Branch busted an illegal factory manufacturing adulterated 'desi ghee' in Bawana Industrial area, officials said on Friday.

The raid executed on Thursday led to the arrests of two persons, and over 3,700 litres of fake desi ghee, along with raw material, machinery, and counterfeit packaging material, were also seized from the premises.

According to police, a team led by Inspector Lichhman, along with other personnel acting on credible intelligence, conducted a raid on October 29 under the supervision of ACP Sunil Srivastava.

The factory was found operating under various brand labels and producing spurious ghee using refined oils and non-dairy substances.

On reaching the industrial unit, the police found the illicit production underway. Two men -- identified as Satender (44), a resident of Sonipat, Haryana, and Parveen (29) from Rohtak -- were apprehended while allegedly operating the machinery and packaging setup.

A detailed search resulted in the recovery of around 2,500 litres of packed adulterated ghee and approximately 1,200 litres in raw form.

Police also seized large quantities of refined oil, steel mixing vessels, heating units, electronic weighing machines, tetra-pack sealing machines, plastic jars and pouches ranging from 100 ml to 5 litres, and rolls of counterfeit labels and wrappers.

Police said the illegal unit had been running for nearly a year. Satender, the alleged mastermind, earlier sold oil cake in Sonipat before shifting to the illicit trade. Parveen, a former auto-rickshaw driver, joined him to operate the factory and mix adulterants.

According to the police, a case has been registered at the Crime Branch under Sections 274/275/318(2)/61(2)/3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for manufacturing and selling hazardous adulterated food products and using fake packaging.

"The case pertains to the manufacture and sale of adulterated food items dangerous to public health, the use of false labels, and violations of food safety standards," said DCP Crime Branch Vikram Singh.

--IANS

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